1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to nursing bras for women, and more particular bras that provide both support and moisture protection for nursing mothers during periods of lactation.
2. Description of Related Art
The current state of the art provides numerous types of bras for use while nursing infants. Such bras have been patented to Becker (U.S. Pat. No. 2,501,860), Alberts (U.S. Pat. No. 2,679,048) and La Rue (U.S. Pat. No. 2,121,088) and one issued to Strauss (U.S. Pat. No. 206,906) for a corset that allows for breast feeding. Patent issue to Mattson (U.S. Pat. No. 1,094,158) and Fowler (U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,305) both disclose garments with moisture shields to protect from unexpected leakage of lacteal fluids. And patents issued to Richards (U.S. Pat. No. 2,748,771) and Morets et al. disclose a combination of supportive nursing bras having a moisture absorbing pad. The patent issued to Weber-Unger (U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,228) is for a pad to be used with a nursing bra. While all of these references have helped to expand the field of bras some of them disclose a supportive bra, having a removable absorbent pad as claimed in the present invention. The publication, "Clothing and Textiles Research Journal", Vol. 16, #3, 1998, pages 107-108 and 113 also disclose a nursing bra with a removable front panel that allows access to the nipple portion of the bra wearers breast.
It is common for women nursing infant children to experience periods of leakage. Such periods can be untimely and embarrassing. To protect women from such unwanted and inconvenient experiences, the present invention expands the current art in this area by disclosing a bra that is supportive while offering access to the bra wearers breast for nursing as well as removable moisture protection which can easily be replaced.